New Delhi, Jan 31, 2024, Special Correspondent/ TT

New Delhi, Jan 31: With shortage of CISF personnel at the Agartala airport causing considerable delay in launch of a flight to Chittagong in Bangladesh, the Union Home Ministry is likely to approve a list of 25 policemen sent to it by the state government for handling security at the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport.
The flight, proposed to be launched around the middle of last year, could not be introduced due to shortage of CISF personnel, though officials have claimed that all arrangements were in place for the Agartala-Chittagong flight service at the airport, except for the setting up of an immigration centre.
"As per a request from the Centre, the state government has sent a list of 25 policemen to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for manning the immigration centre at the airport. Once the MHA clears the list, the immigration centre will be made operational," TripuraTransport Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has said.
The state government will pay Rs 15 crore as gap funding to Spicejet for introducing the flight service under UDAN scheme and out of the total amount, Rs 3.75 crore has already been paid.
This international flight service will benefit Tripura to a great extent, particularly in trade and tourism as people of Tripura will be able to travel to Chittagong, the second-largest city and a major port of Bangladesh, in less than an hour.
The state government has written to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia to increase the number of flights from Agartala. At present, 15 flights operate daily at the airport, ferrying about 4,000 passengers.